


Just Like Heaven

by mishallaneously



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Fluff, M/M, domestic AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-12
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2018-03-17 14:28:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3532793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mishallaneously/pseuds/mishallaneously
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Dean is a hopeless romantic and Castiel's 30th birthday is truly unforgettable</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Like Heaven

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to my dear friend and fearless GISHWHES team captain, Taylor- misha7collins.tumblr.com  
> Based loosely on this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECRqF4BHkGk  
> The song is Just Like Heaven by The Cure

A sharp rap of knuckles on his bedroom door stirs Castiel from his thoughts. He blinks slowly at his reflection in the mirror and slowly turns off the running water. Another year older, he thinks grimly, might as well accept it.

“Coming.” He calls to whoever is behind the door. He wipes his face on the fresh towel and makes sure all the shaving cream is gone before he steps out of the bathroom.

Before opening the door he gathers himself and takes a deep, calming breath. All of the attention of birthdays always makes him nervous. Coupled with surprises, which Dean has a penchant for, Cas’ stomach is a knotted wreck. He exhales through his nose. He’s okay.

He closes his eyes as he opens the door, steeling himself for the crowd of people Dean has likely gathered on the other side. But as the door swings open with a quiet squeak there’s nothing. Cas opens his eyes cautiously.

There’s nobody there. His hallway is empty. He carefully peers around the corner, making sure there’s no one waiting to jump out and surprise him. There’s no one, and besides, Dean’s likely learned his lesson after the first genuine surprise party and the black eye he had a week after. The only thing is a small whiteboard placed at Castiel’s feet. He squints at the words neatly written there: “Greenhouse.”

Cas’ eyebrows crease together in confusion. Well, this is different. The greenhouse is certainly a staple in Cas’ life and it holds a very special place in his heart for more reasons than one, but he can’t imagine why Dean wants him to go there. Oh shit, he thinks, stopping in his tracks. If Dean is throwing a party in the greenhouse Cas is going to have his head. His plants will be ruined. He grits his teeth and briskly walks to his backyard with more urgency.

He’s prepared to yell at Dean as he rounds the corner, ready to see a huge crowd of people fogging up the glass in his precious greenhouse but he falters when it comes into view. The doors are open, beckoning, and there are old Christmas lights strung up along the inside, bathing the interior in a soft yellow glow. Castiel’s heart clenches, how long has Dean been out here working on this? He can’t see Dean anywhere and decides to venture inside.

Inside it’s even more beautiful than he could imagine. He trails his fingertips along the leaves of his plants as he always does.

There’s a chair in the middle of the central aisle. Castiel comes to it and lifts up the iPad sitting on the seat. There’s a post-it note with the words “play me” on it. Castiel rolls his eyes. Dean is definitely pulling out all the stops for this birthday.

Cas sits down and sighs contentedly as he looks at his plants bathed in the warm light. The night sky is dark and the stars are twinkling through the glass panes of the greenhouse. It really is a lovely night, he thinks. If only Dean would show himself and they could spend it together. He supposes the only thing he can do is follow instructions.

When he presses play, Dean’s face fills his screen.

“Heya, Cas,” Dean says on the iPad. Cas almost waves in response. Dean’s dressed nicely, in an olive green button down. “First off, let me say happy birthday, old man.”

Dean smiles broadly, his eyes crinkling a bit at the corners. “You’re real important to me, Cas. And I wanted to do something to show you that. So I brought you out to your mom’s old greenhouse ’cause I know how much you love that place and uh, ’cause, well, our personal history. You remember that right?” He chuckles to himself. “’Course you do, how could you forget? Anyway, I’ll give you a minute to think about that. See you in a minute, Cas.” The screen fades to black.

Cas nods to himself, of course he remembers that day. He remembers all of those days back when he was supposed to be in the prime of his childhood. But the dark cloud of his mother’s recent death hung heavy over his head and his heart and sucked the color out of most of his days. He remembers the loneliness and the time spent prodding the unconscious drunken heap of a father in an attempt to get him to be an active part of Castiel’s life. Unfortunately, his father played favorites and the bottle of scotch proved to be the golden child. Castiel remembers taking refuge among his mother’s cherished plants in her greenhouse. He remembers long afternoons tending to the plants and telling them the thoughts that woke him at night. He remembers how the plants were the best listeners, the best friends, he had back then. Until that afternoon when the clouds parted briefly and he saw a flash of green eyes as Dean Winchester tried to steal one of his cucumbers.  

“I never paid you back for that cucumber you let me steal. Or all the meals you fed me and Sammy.” Dean said, appearing on the iPad once again. “Y’know, I felt guilty about stealing from you for awhile, but I wouldn’t change anything. Meeting you was worth any trouble I could’ve gotten in for petty theft.

“Anyway, Cas. I met you when you were 10, and now, on the eve of the 20 year anniversary of knowing you, I thought I’d do something a little cheesy and a little romantic.” It fades to black again.

It’s been 20 years since Dean Winchester literally broke into his life. Cas has known Dean longer than he has lived not knowing Dean. And all this time it has been the greatest gift he has ever known. He wishes he could just say that to Dean, but as it stands, Dean is nowhere to be found and Castiel has to pay attention to the Dean on the iPad.

“Hey Cas. It’s me again, but from uh, by my calculations, I’m a year in your past.” Cas squints in confusion. Dean has changed what he’s wearing. In fact he’s wearing the same burgundy dress shirt he was wearing- “This is me on your birthday last year. I guess if I go through with this whole thing you’re gonna be pretty shocked so here’s some proof.”

2014 Dean lifts the camera to the window. It’s the view from the upstairs window of Cas’ house. Outside there are a couple of figures milling out by a car. The leaves are just turning and one of them breaks off in that moment and floats its way down, settling in one of the figure’s hair. “There you are, you just got a leaf in your hair, I think.” Dean laughs. “God, let’s just keep this trained on you for a while so you can see how great your ass looks in those dark jeans. I’m going to pull those off of you with my teeth tonight, goddamn, Cas.” His voice has gotten low and husky.

Cas blushes as he watches himself and listens to Dean. He remembers waiting out there in the cool September evening. He and Sam couldn’t understand what was taking Dean so long. He also remembers, with a shiver, how Dean made good on that promise. 

“Anyway,” the camera is trained on Dean’s face again, there’s a slight blush running up his neck. “I don’t really know how to say this but uh, I saw you tonight and I realized that you’re it for me, man.”

Dean clears his throat loudly. He smiles sheepishly at the camera, his eyes a bit glassy. “What I’m trying to say is, Castiel Novak,” Castiel’s stomach drops when Dean uses his full name. He rarely says his full name. And his tone is serious and his eyes are earnest. “I want to marry you.”

Castiel nearly falls out of his chair. He didn’t hear that right.

“Don’t worry, Cas, you heard it right. I wanna marry your sorry ass. And to prove it, I’m gonna ask you once every day until your birthday next year.” Dean’s smiling widely. “Here’s day number one.”

He lifts up the same whiteboard that had the instructions on it. This time “September 18, 2014” is written in the corner as well as “Day 1/365” and in the middle: “Will you marry me, Castiel Novak?”

Castiel is staring dumbfounded at the screen. His eyes are wide in disbelief and he’s afraid he might snap the iPad in two because he’s gripping it so tightly. The screen fades to black and the music starts. It’s that song Dean sings to him sometimes when the windows are down and Dean’s driving too fast.

The footage on the scene goes by quickly. The first one is Dean getting ready for work, the whiteboard on the dresser says 2/365 and “Marry me, Cas?” Then it’s Dean eating cereal, 3/365, “Make me the happiest guy in the world?” Dean driving his car, 4/365, “Marry me?”

Then the lyrics start and Dean in the video starts lip syncing to them. _Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick, the one that makes me scream she said._ Dean’s in the shower now, his hair is shampoo-y and he’s holding a whiteboard that says 6/365 and “Love me forever, Cas?”  _Show me how you do it, and I promise you, I promise that I’ll run away with you, I’ll run away with you._

The images of Dean doing mundane tasks keep coming while the music keeps playing. He’s raking leaves in the background while the whiteboard is nestled in the leaves in the foreground: “Cas just marry me.”

Now there’s footage of the two of them together. Their trip to the mountains last winter is caught on camera, Cas’ cheeks are pink from the cold and Dean darts in and kisses the tip of his nose. When 2014 Cas leaves to enter the cabin they’re staying in, Dean crouches down and places the whiteboard in front of the camera in the snow. The words “I wanna be stuck with your nerdy ass” are in focus while 2014 Cas walks away in the background.  _Why won’t you ever know that I’m in love with you, that I’m in love with you._

Castiel is leaning in so close to the screen that he fears his breath will fog up the glass. Now Dean’s brushing his teeth and holding up a whiteboard that says “I wanna do this next to you for a million years.”

Then there are pictures of the two of them growing up. Dean and Cas eating ice cream on the steps of the local art museum. Dean and Cas dressed up for Halloween: Dean as Han Solo and Cas as Indiana Jones.  _You, soft and only, you._  Sam squirting Dean and Cas with a squirt gun while they’re laying out on towels in the backyard.  _You, lost and lonely, you._ Dean resting his hand on Cas’ shoulder as he puts some of his mom’s favorite flowers on her grave. Cas as valedictorian in his graduation robes and various medals and ribbons for academic excellence as Dean, also in his cap and gown, hoists him up on his shoulders. _You, strange as angels._ Cas tending to his plants while Dean looks at him, a fond smile on his face.  Dean and Cas on either side of sleeping Sam in the backseat of a car, about to give him a wet willy.  _Dancing in the deepest oceans, twisting in the water._  A picture of the two of them basically silhouettes as they gaze out at a beautiful sunset, the sky aflame in pinks and oranges as the sun dips below the mountains, and Dean pulls Cas close.  _You’re just like a dream._

Tears are streaming down Castiel’s face now. He’s so hopelessly in love with Dean Winchester and that asshole isn’t even here.  Dean on the screen is jogging with the whiteboard. He’s then with Sam who holds up the whiteboard and points to the words “Ready to become a Winchester?” Then it’s Dean smiling and it pans to Castiel sleeping, Dean places the whiteboard in his unconscious hands: “Just say yes.”

Finally, it’s 364 out of 365 and Dean is in this greenhouse. The screen flashes quickly through a bunch of pictures of the two of them. Them at prom. Them graduating from college. When they were 11 and on different soccer teams and Cas celebrated after he scored on Dean, the goalie.  _You, soft and only, you._ Dean presenting Castiel with his first legal beer on his 21st birthday. Cas hugging Dean’s slumped form close to him as they stand at Mary Winchester’s fresh grave.  _You, lost and lonely, you._  Dean and Cas road tripping with Sam on their way to drop him off for his first year at Stanford. Multiple pictures of them kissing. A picture of them making snow angels. A picture of Dean eating a restaurant’s largest, record breaking burger while Cas looks on fondly.  _Just like heaven._

The video cuts back to Dean in the greenhouse. He’s sitting next to the cucumbers. He holds up the whiteboard with a shy smile. It reads two simple words. “Turn around.” Cas nearly drops the iPad as he stands on shaky legs.

He turns around slowly and there’s Dean. He’s wearing the same green button down as the beginning of the video and his eyes are wide and nervous. In his hand is a bouquet of daisies. He makes eye contact with Cas and starts to crouch down on one knee.

Before he can, Cas rushes toward him and envelopes him in a hug. “You idiot, of course I’ll marry you.”

Dean sags a little in relief but mutters a muffled, “You’re s’posed to let me ask it first, Cas.”

Cas pulls away and squints accusingly at him, “Dean Winchester, you just asked me to marry you  _365 times_.”

“True.” He gets down on one knee anyway and looks up at Cas. “Whaddya say, Cas, ready to be my better half?”

Cas rolls his eyes and crouches down next to Dean. “I thought you’d never ask.”

 


End file.
